Unofficial Facebook pages can compromise practices’ professional integrity, according to research.

A study, released by the British Journal of General Practice, revealed that unofficial Facebook pages for general practices carry more negative reviews and comments than official ones.

Researchers looked at 83 practices based in North Staffordshire, which had a total of more than 450,000 registered patients.

More than half of these practices had unofficial pages, with some using their names to advertise local businesses.

‘Practices have no means to moderate content or access to such unofficial pages, leaving the page open for the public to relay whatever information they like, possibly without the knowledge of the official organisation itself,’ said the researchers.

The rise of social media

Over the past years, there has been an increasing use of technology, including social media, in primary care.

Social media allows practices to communicate faster, get more feedback from their patients and promote themselves.

But it may also include misleading health information or unjustified negative feedback, tarnishing practices’ reputation and impacting on patients.

To prevent inaccurate and inappropriate comments on unofficial pages, practices are recommended to have official pages with the ‘appropriate protocols for managing them’.